Residences and industry don’t mix. So as housing sectors continue to spread outward from city centers and cover vast tracts of once prime industrial land, manufacturers can fall victim.

But we think metalcasting can take on urban sprawl with the best of them.

The question is this: when residential zoning surrounds a metalcasting facility, will the company be nimble enough to respond? Will it be able to eliminate odors? Lower noise volumes? Find ways to expand capacity without encroaching on land earmarked for other purposes?

We think Smith Foundry, Minneapolis, is nimble enough.

In a recent article in the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune, Smith Foundry owner Neil Ahlstrom talks about some of the challenges his ferrous job shop has faced when trying to grow through new zoning restrictions. To overcome one of the challenges, the company has had to engineer an alternative sand system. For another, it is looking into noise and vibration mitigation strategies.

We’d put up an 88-year-old metalcasting facility against urban sprawl any day.